Blade Runner: To Burn Bright
by unclepauly
Summary: A disgraced Blade Runner returns to his job. Nearing completion.
1. Damask rose up

It was bleak yet beautiful. The huge skyscrapers that formed the urban canyons reached up towards the heavens, towering over even the thick smog and smoke of the cityscape. Smokestacks belched fire into the air, the combustion safely disposing the impurities in the gas through flaring. Gargantuan flying hoards advertised the possibility of a new life on the colonies to those rich enough to afford it. The light escaping out of each window shone in contrast to the dark silhouettes of the buildings, creating small star-like pinpricks upon the giant towers. A dystopia that at a glance was almost utopian.  
  
Douglass didn't notice any of it. He just sat, lost in his thoughts as the police spinner took him toward the LAPD building. The pilot, who sat beside Douglass, did not speak, channelling all his energies into getting them both to the police HQ. The spinner wound it's way through the city at high speeds. Computers and navigation equipment bleeped and radiated a bluish light.  
  
The pilot dropped altitude and started to prepare for landing as the LAPD building came into view. The craft hovered above the building and descended in a slow, controlled spiral, the very spiral that gave the Spinner it's name.  
  
***  
  
Holden watched as the vehicle landed and took another drag from his cigarette. He didn't like this. Didn't like it at all. Douglass wasn't ready for full duties yet, not so soon after the incident. If it had been up to him Douglass would never have gotten back into the Rep-Detect unit again but then the circumstances surrounding the whole thing had been rather special. Most people seemed to think that anyone could have made the mistake that Douglass had. Not Holden though.  
  
***  
  
Douglass walked into Bryant's office and stood in front of the desk. The Captain didn't take any notice of him or at least pretended not to, continuing on with his paperwork. After a minute he did look up and when he did Douglass wished he hadn't. The overweight bearded man looked up at him with a mixture of disgust and anger.  
  
"Sit down" he snapped and went back to the paperwork.  
  
Douglass wearily slid into the chair and waited for Bryant to finish whatever he was doing. His boss seemed to be intent on keeping him waiting, sweating him out.  
  
Just as Douglass began to feel himself falling asleep Bryant spoke.  
  
"Surprised to be back?"  
  
Douglass did not flinch or back down but he didn't answer either.  
  
"It's been, what, three months now? Think you're ready to go back to work. Feel ready to start working the old magic again?"  
  
"Yeah, I do"  
  
"Well that's good. Because I got a job for you"  
  
"How many?"  
  
"Five"  
  
"Where from?"  
  
"The Vassago Rim. They're Nexus Fives"  
  
"Shit, I thought you'd give me something hard Bryant"  
  
Bryant reacted as if he'd been slapped. He almost jumped back.  
  
"Don't go getting too cocky Douglass. That was what got you into that mess three months back. As it is I'm not totally trusting you on this one"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're working with Holden"  
  
"I don't need a babysitter. You can use Holden better than that"  
  
"Don't argue with me Douglass. You were pretty damn close to losing your badge and becoming one of the little people. As it stands you might still become one of them."  
  
"Nexus Fives? They're way behind the Sixes. They're not even close."  
  
"Maybe, but they're still faster, smarter and stronger than the average human"  
  
"You can use me and Holden better than this"  
  
"We don't even have any Six cases yet Douglass. Just take the file, get outta here and meet up with Holden"  
  
Douglass did as he was told, only too happy to leave the office. Someone else stepped in. Gaff, the tall and mysterious bladerunner threw Douglass a scowl. The Captain looked up, smiled, got out two glasses and a bottle of whiskey before speaking to him.  
  
"Hey Gaff. Needja to do something for me. There's this here…"  
  
Douglass walked out, closing the door behind him. He stepped on something and looked down. Despite being crumpled and dirtied by his boot it was still recognizable. A small origami model of a panther. Douglass growled and ground it down with his heel.  
  
***  
  
Holden was waiting for him in what had been his office before he'd had to leave the Rep-Detect unit. Douglass walked in and was instantly affronted.  
  
"What the hell did you guys do with my office?"  
  
The room was filled with file cabinets, stacks of sheets stood in piles. Boxes filled with discs had formed mountains.  
  
"We turned it into a storage space" replied Holden, as if that much was not already obvious.  
  
Douglass looked back at Holden, his stare imparting the fact that he was annoyed. Holden broke into a smile but not a friendly one.  
  
"Hey, it's not as if you were using it. To be honest I didn't think you'd ever be using it again"  
  
Douglass nodded slowly realising that some peoples' opinions of him had changed in the last few months. Holden walked through the mazes of cabinets toward him.  
  
"No, not at all. Didn't think you'd be back. Fact is, you screwed up big time."  
  
"It wasn't my fault Holden"  
  
"No, but it was you who pulled the trigger"  
  
"It's not like he was a fine upstanding member of society"  
  
"No," Holden replied with an air of contempt, "but he was human." 


	2. A New Start

Douglass sat down in Holden's office (his own would be beyond use for a few more weeks he had been assured) and began to go through the details of the case.  
  
There were five of the replicants, all of them Nexus Five. They were all later models, version Gs, so they would be tougher than the majority of cases that the bladerunners received. He scanned down to the information on the replicants:  
  
Replicant (M) Des: MICHAEL  
  
NEXUS-5 N5MAC41717  
  
Incept Date: 10 APRIL, 2017  
  
Func: Menial/Industrial/Agricultural  
  
Phys: LEV. A Mental: LEV. C  
  
Replicant (M) Des: MATT  
  
NEXUS-5 N5MAA10816  
  
Incept Date: 8 JAN., 2016  
  
Func: Combat, Hostile engagements  
  
Phys: LEV. A Mental: LEV. A  
  
Replicant (F) Des: ANNE  
  
NEXUS-5 N5FBA61216  
  
Incept Date: 12 JUNE, 2016  
  
Func: Domestic  
  
Phys: LEV. B Mental: LEV. A  
  
Replicant (F) Des: KARI  
  
NEXUS-5 N5FAB21416  
  
Incept Date: 14 FEB., 2016  
  
Func: Pleasure  
  
Phys: LEV. A Mental: LEV. B  
  
Replicant (F) Des: MARY  
  
NEXUS-5 N5FAC21416  
  
Incept Date: 14 FEB., 2015  
  
Func: Pleasure  
  
Phys: LEV. A Mental: LEV. C  
  
Two male and three female. Shouldn't be much of problem, aside the combat model Matt. To Douglass this was beneath his skills. He'd had much harder cases, like the immigration of two assassin replicants the year before. Now THAT had been a hard case. Still, he'd come through, like he always did. He remained sure that his success rate was the reason they hadn't thrown him out on his ass.  
  
He gulped down some more coffee and read on.  
  
The replicants were from a colony on the Vassago Rim. They'd stolen a small DEK-174 and headed for Earth. Four days ago they had entered the atmosphere over California airspace and the day after the ship had been found in one of LA's numerous slums. There'd been no witnesses to the landing but then if there had been they were probably criminals who wouldn't bother going to the police.  
  
Douglass thought about it for a moment and finished his coffee, the caffeine kick starting his tired mind. One of the first things rogue replicants tended to do upon their arrival was look for a job to be able to afford food and shelter. He'd have to begin checking into that. Maybe having Holden would halve the time required to do that.  
  
He flipped the file closed and stood up, running a hand through his short, messy black hair. Another thing he would have to sort out was a firearm. He hadn't gone to pick up his police issue when he'd arrived.  
  
***  
  
Holden was sifting through company reports when Douglass returned from the armoury, a Puch 5223 resting in his newly acquired holster.  
  
"Whatcha got there?" he asked carefully.  
  
"Reports of employments of companies in the surrounding area in the last four days"  
  
"How many?"  
  
"Quite a few. We're gonna have to V-K them all"  
  
"At least there's two of us"  
  
"Yup, at least there's that" 


	3. Voight Kampff

The next day Douglass was in the offices of the Shimago-Dominguez Corporation, one of the colony companies. He was shown into a small room on the fifty third floor by two courteous PR men and began to get to business. As the latest employees of the company queued up outside he began to set up the Voight-Kampff test.  
  
Voight-Kampff was the most effective test devised for the detection of replicants. Replicants have programmed emotional responses that are built in to make them seem like Humans. These are not real emotions and the Reps don't *feel* them - they are simulations of the responses that humans give. These are what allow Reps to interact with humans and help them to appear human. . Voight-Kampff worked by invoking emotional response to a series of carefully worded questions. The empathic response would then be measured by a series of machines that would detect iris fluctuation, dilation of the pupils and pheromones present in the air.  
  
Douglass set out the equipment, turning on the small camera and setting it to monitor an area at about eye-level. He flicked on a small laser on its side and unfolded the bellows that would detect pheromone particles. The apparatus looked sinister, almost insectile.  
  
He flicked on the intercom and told whoever was on the other end that he was ready. Sitting down he noticed that he was sweating. This would be the first Voight-Kampff test he had overseen in three months. The results of the last one didn't bear thinking about.  
  
The first employee came in through the door and sat down. He was a short wiry man with blonde hair. Douglass wiped the sweat from his forehead. He smiled, trying to be reassuring and began the test.  
  
"Okay now…John… I'm going to ask you some questions. What I want you to do is answer them as quickly as you can. Reaction is a factor in the outcome y'see. Think you can do that John?"  
  
"Yessir, no problems"  
  
"Okay, let's begin. You're in a desert. In front of you is a tortoise. It's lying on it's back struggling to get up, the hot sun burning it's belly. What do you so?"  
  
"I wonder what the hell I'm doin' in a desert."  
  
"Right…" muttered Douglas, throwing a sideways glance to the monitor, which was displaying the man's right eye in extreme close up.  
  
"A friend drops by for dinner. He has with him a rack of ham. Do you eat it?"  
  
"No, sir. I'd turn him over to the authorities. S'against the law to eat meat what with whole extinction thing."  
  
"Okay. A wasp lands on your arm. It raises its stinger…"  
  
"I'd jump outta my chair and swat the little fucker."  
  
Douglass glanced at the monitor again. The readouts seemed to be consistent with the man's responses so far.  
  
"You're having a drink with your friend. Both of you have had a lot to drink and he tells you that he once had sexual intercourse with you wife"  
  
"I'd kill him" was John's flat response. On the monitor the EA-graph dropped two units.  
  
"Okay, John. You're sitting at home reading a book. Your wife comes up to you with and gives you a picture of a naked woman lying on a bearskin rug. What do you do?"  
  
The man laughed, great big guffaws.  
  
"I'd ask her who she was and what the hell she'd down with my wife!" he managed to wheeze through his teary eyed giggles.  
  
As the man tried to control his laughter at the absurd scenario Douglass looked over the figures coming from the Voight-Kampff test. All of them fine, with a particularly empathic response to the final question. This man was no skin-job. Resetting the devices for the next person he dismissed John. As the worker staggered, laughing, from the room Douglass sighed.  
  
It was going to be a long day. 


	4. The Immortal Game

Hagberg District. Two days later.  
  
The wind howled as it raced between the huge apartment blocks creating an almost supernatural sound. The rain hammered down, washing the debris and litter on the streets toward the storm drains. Smog hung in the air clouding everything.  
  
Two figures huddled beneath a bridge to avoid the almost permanent rainfall.  
  
"I don't think it's a very good idea Kari"  
  
"We need to find out how close they are. The moment I've got the information I'll leave"  
  
"Why don't we just head north?"  
  
"Because we shouldn't spend our lives running Michael."  
  
***  
  
Mingantao Colony Project (MCP) Human Resources Department.  
  
Douglass nodded to the last employee and thanked him for his time. The diminutive red-haired man timidly made his way out. Douglass shook his head. Once again the Voight-Kampff tests had failed to identify any possible replicants. This was getting boring.  
  
He packed up the test equipment and prepared to leave. He'd been doing up to five companies a day and had failed to hit pay dirt. It hadn't been like this before his accident. Back then he'd been one of the Rep-Detect's legends, up there with Deckard, Holden and Magelle.  
  
He left the room and was greeted by a young brown-haired woman.  
  
"Mr Douglass?"  
  
"Yeah, that's me."  
  
"I'm Nina Corley. Have you finished your investigation?"  
  
"Yes, I'm done."  
  
"Good. I've been asked to show you to the spinner platform"  
  
"That's alright, I know the way"  
  
"I'll accompany you anyway, it'll give me a few more minutes away from work"  
  
Douglass smiled warmly and laughed.  
  
"Well I wouldn't want you to be overworked"  
  
Nina returned the smile and together they walked through MCP's hallways toward the Spinner bay. When they arrived at it Douglass stopped by the door.  
  
"Forget something?" Nina asked curiously.  
  
"No.I. uh." Douglass stammered as he tried to find the words he was looking for.  
  
Beside him Nina threw him a look that was equal parts perplexion and amusement. Douglass could see he was crashing fast.  
  
"Look, I don't do this often.but."  
  
"But?" She raised her eyebrows.  
  
"But I was wondering if you'd want to get a drink or dinner or. something"  
  
She grinned and for a few moments Douglass was sure she was going to laugh at him. Finally she broke the tension with a reply.  
  
"Yeah, okay. Do you know McCann's Bar?"  
  
"I'm practically a resident."  
  
"Well I'll met you there at about nine. Does that suit?"  
  
"Nina, I'd travel to the Gobi desert for a drink with you."  
  
"See now you're getting too keen"  
  
"I'll try rein that in. See you at nine."  
  
As he climbed into the cabin of the Spinner she noticed the pilot.  
  
"Why don't you fly it? I thought all police held Spinner licences."  
  
Douglass scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully, looking for the most diplomatic answer. When he had found it he replied:  
  
"I used to be licensed but since then I've broken a few rules"  
  
Again she grinned and Douglass shot her a wink as the pilot powered the craft up. She turned and walked briskly out of the bay.  
  
***  
  
Hagberg District.  
  
The figures were back, once again huddled beneath the bridge, covered in shadow. There were three of them now.  
  
"Is she in?"  
  
"Yes, she's found a source"  
  
"What if they find out Matt?"  
  
"She can take care of herself. Relax Michael, they won't know" 


	5. Esper

Douglass' Apartment Dakarin District  
  
Douglass threw on a shirt and grabbed his wallet from the top of his TV. He took a look at his watch. Eight o'clock. He had about twenty minutes to spare.  
  
Sitting down he gave the command for the ESPER to activate. The ESPER was a small screen connected to a super computer in the police building. It was used for a wide range of functions, anything from analysing photos to comparing fingerprints. Right now Douglass was using it as a means of communication.  
  
On his screen an image of Holden's office appeared. After half a minute Holden entered the frame.  
  
"What do you want?" he murmured as he sat down at his desk.  
  
"An update," replied Douglass, "Anything new come up on your end?"  
  
"Yeah, I had a talk with one of the Tyrell Corp scientists. This guy says that our replicants were the last ones to come off of the Nexus Five production line. These things are just a hairs breadth from being Nexus Sixes. They're all pretty much above human standards and their endurance is abnormally high, even for a replicant"  
  
"So we're not dealing with normal Nexus Fives?"  
  
"No siree, check this out. The Tyrell guy told me that the late model Nexus Fives are all being recalled, something to do with the growth of emotions"  
  
"Emotions?"  
  
"Yeah, I was a little weirded out when I heard it too. Apparently the late model Nexus Fives are so advanced they've begun to develop their own emotions"  
  
"What about the Nexus Sixes?"  
  
"Nah, the guy said they had some sort of countermeasure for that"  
  
"Right. Anything else?"  
  
"Nope, how about you?"  
  
"About a hundred people VKed and no replicants."  
  
"Okay, see you tomorrow"  
  
Holden and his office disappeared leaving the cold bottomless black of the screen. Douglass stood up and left.  
  
***  
  
McCann's Bar The Hispanic Quarter  
  
"You're late," Douglass pointed out as Nina sat down.  
  
"But fashionably so," she retorted, giving him a small smile.  
  
"Can I buy you a drink?"  
  
"You may, but you'll have to talk with me"  
  
Douglass feigned reluctance as he replied; "I guess I'd better buy myself a drink too"  
  
He walked over to the bar and got the drinks, nodding to McCann, an old friend from the glory days. Sitting down he tried to relax despite being rather flustered. He'd never been much of a social person.  
  
"So what rules did you break?"  
  
Snapped out of his train of thought Douglass wondered what she meant.  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
"When I asked you why you couldn't fly the Spinner. You said you had broken a few rules. I was wondering what you did"  
  
"It wasn't so much breaking rules as making one big mistake"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"You don't want to know"  
  
"Is it that maverick cop stuff that gets you suspended but catches the bad guy?"  
  
"No, nothing like that"  
  
"What then?"  
  
Douglass sighed at looked down at the table. He hadn't voluntarily spoken about the incident that had nearly ended his career six months previously. He wasn't sure offering it up to someone was a good idea when he didn't even know the person's second name.  
  
"Six months ago I was assigned to a case involving a runaway replicant, a combat class. The thing had escaped from one of the Europa rigs and made it's way here. When something like this happens protocol dictates that we take VK tests of every person employed since the Rep landed."  
  
Douglass looked up at Nina, trying to read her face, to see what she was feeling. Drawing a blank he continued talking.  
  
"Now, the Voight Kampff test works by measuring emotional responses to a number of carefully worded questions. If there is no response the subject is obviously a replicant. Now I held a series of Voight Kampff tests at Sanchez-Kesslar Industries. My eighteenth subject was a man named Elias Satriani. He gave no emotional responses to the tests. When he realised what had happened he tried to escape."  
  
Nina remained impassive, her face belying no clues to her thoughts. Douglass returned his gaze to the table as he told the hardest part of his tale.  
  
"As Satriani ran for the door I opened fire. I hit him five times, four in the back and one in his neck. When the medics examined the body they said that he wasn't a rep. He was human. Satriani had a long history of mental illness. He was a psychopath, incapable of emotion. Thus he was incapable of passing the VK test. I was suspended, I only just got back on active duty a few days ago. The Rep-Detect department was forced to make revisions in its VK test to make sure it never happened again."  
  
He knocked back most of his drink, felt it burn its way down his throat. He looked back to Nina. She was sipping her drink, her eyes still on him. The silence made him feel uncomfortable and he made an attempt at breaking it.  
  
"I'll understand if you want to leave now"  
  
She set her glass back down and shook her head slowly.  
  
"No, that's okay. You seem like a nice person, I don't think what happened was your fault. It was very honest of you to tell me"  
  
"Thanks"  
  
"Why did you ask me out?"  
  
"I dunno, I don't normally go out with anyone. I just seemed to notice you. Is that weird?"  
  
"No, it's nice," she replied, smiling slightly. "You have the strangest eyes. I just can't seem to figure out what colour they are"  
  
"Me neither. Grey I suppose, same as my mother. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I guess I must have a rather dull and boring soul"  
  
"Are you always this self-deprecatory?"  
  
"Normally I'm a lot worse. And I prefer to call it modesty"  
  
She opened a pack of Boyard cigarettes and offered one to him. He shook his head and downed the rest of his drink. She lit up, took a drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke. Douglass got up and went to order another round of drinks. 


	6. Among The Fallen

Douglass' Apartment Dakarin District  
  
The buzzing of the intercom by his bed woke Douglass up. He let out a grunt, opened his bleary eyes and felt for the intercom on his bedside table. He found it and pressed down on one of the buttons.  
  
"Who is it?" he asked, stifling a yawn.  
  
"It's Holden. I've got a lead," replied the distorted voice.  
  
"Come on up, I'll be ready in a few moments"  
  
He unlocked his apartment door and took a shower before getting dressed. As he tied his shoelaces Holden entered the room. Douglass checked his watch; it was 2am. He'd only got home an hour and a half ago.  
  
"Christ, don't you sleep Holden?"  
  
"I was getting caught up on paperwork at the precinct. Gaff got word from one of his people that a new group of squatters beat up a load of tramps in a derelict building down in the Hagberg district four days ago"  
  
"You're clutching at straws. That could be anyone, throw a few beat officers on the job"  
  
"This is no straw I'm clutching Douglass. The new squatters were said to be made up of two males and three females. That sounds like our group. And it's only a day after they got here. Sounds like the business to me"  
  
"Alright, lets check it out"  
  
***  
  
Holden guided the spinner through the dark skies above the inner city slums. Beneath them the grimy, rubbish strewn alleys contrasted with the neon signs of scummy bars and business stalls. Douglass looked down at the people, noticing some of them panic at the sight of the police vehicle.  
  
The rest of the night at the bar had gone fairly well, after the rather awkward start. They'd talked about their shared interests, old films, photography and books they'd read. Nina had seemed like a nice person, a little cold in demeanour but intelligent. He'd asked her if he could see her again. She'd agreed.  
  
The spinner went down low, the Nav computer flashing as they arrived at their destination. Douglass looked around him. This wasn't the Hagberg district; it was two blocks away. Sensing his thoughts Holden explained, "We'll go the rest of the way on foot. Don't want those replicants seeing the spinner and running for it, do we?"  
  
Douglass accepted the reasoning and followed.  
  
***  
  
Cortez Hotel Hagberg District.  
  
Douglass and Holden moved through the gloomy corridors of the derelict hotel, stepping over drunken tramps and junkies. Water dripped through holes in pipes and ceilings, mould crept up the damp walls. The carpets were covered in grime, spilled meths, used syringes and vomit. Holden stopped and crouched beside one of the junkies, an emancipated Hispanic boy.  
  
"Wanna make some quick money kid?"  
  
The boy looked back with a vacant stare, his eyes looking like they'd sunk into his black rimmed sockets.  
  
"I need a little info on some new people who came here. I'll pay you if you tell me"  
  
The boy started babbling in a language that sounded like a mixture of German, Spanish and Japanese. Holden stood up, annoyed, and turned to Douglass. "You don't happen to speak street, do you Douglass?"  
  
"Nope. Wish Gaff was here"  
  
An old guy further down the corridor scrambled to his feet and stumbled his way towards them, obviously drunk.  
  
"Sorry sirs, but I couldn't help but overhear your proposition of money for information," he mumbled as he reached them.  
  
"We're listening," replied Holden, unfazed.  
  
"Bunch of new kids came in a few days ago. They took over on the top floor. Kicked out Miguel's drug dealer."  
  
"Who's Miguel?"  
  
The old man pointed to the kid on the floor and continued talking. "They're in room 5 on the top floor. They come and go, sometimes they're there, and sometimes they're not. What did they do?"  
  
"None of your concern. Here, there's thirty. That'll keep you in hooch for a while"  
  
The old man accepted the money with greedy hands and set off for the nearest supplier of booze. Holden took out his cigarettes and lit up. He put the pack back in his pocket and took out his gun, cocked it and looked over at Douglass.  
  
"Ready for this?"  
  
Douglass yanked his gun from its holster and nodded back. "You bet I am"  
  
"Alright, we might be dealing with all five of them so this could turn into a real fuckaroo if we're not alert. However, going by what the old man said there might only be one or two of them. We go in hard and surprise them"  
  
"I haven't been given any photos of them, I don't know what they look like"  
  
"Yeah, the Tyrell Corporation say they've had trouble isolating the specific manufacturing plant the skin-jobs came from so they haven't got the photos out to us yet. Tell you what, we'll tell them they're under arrest and VK them. The VK'll confirm if they're reps of not. And if they don't co-operate they're obviously reps, we'll take them down"  
  
"Okay. You want me to take point?"  
  
"Nah, I'll go first, you watch my back"  
  
They walked past the broken-down elevator towards the stairs. 


	7. A Questionable Redemption

14th Floor Cortez Hotel  
  
Holden and Douglass crept through the darkness silently, barely able to see anything in front of them. The electricity to the hotel had been cut off long ago and now it was almost pitch-black, save for the lights of adjacent buildings shining through the windows. Douglass was tempted to use his flashlight but decided against it, best not risk alerting the replicants.  
  
Both men stopped outside Room 5 and checked their guns. They gave each other nods to affirm they were ready and then got on with the job. Douglass stood by the hinges of the door, gun in one hand, flashlight in the other. Holden stepped back to the wall opposite the door then lunged forwards, lashing out with his foot.  
  
The kick flung the door open, splinters flying from the damaged lock. Holden raced in, quickly followed by Douglass, both men sweeping their flashlights from side to side, scanning the area for a hostile element. "Spread out," whispered Holden, moving towards the kitchen.  
  
Douglass walked slowly towards the bedrooms. These apartments were massive; the Cortez Hotel had been a very expensive place until the second Wall Street Crash had put it out of business. He kept his sidearm straight out in front of him, ready to squeeze the trigger and end an artificial life.  
  
He moved the flashlight beam over one of the beds. It had been used recently; sheets looked clean and free of dust. Photographs strewn across the floor depicted all sorts of things, children playing, tropical holidays. He'd heard that many skin-jobs were fixated on photographs, probably a yearning to have a past like those the pictures held.  
  
He whirled round, thought he caught movement in the beam of his light, a shadow across the wall. He left the bedroom and went back the way he came. A rat squealed as he walked back into the apartment's main hall.  
  
Holden ducked beneath pots and pans that hung from the kitchen ceiling. He glanced around the room, saw plates lying in the sink, leftovers that were still fresh on top of them. He opened one of the cupboards and saw that it was fully stocked with tinned foods and bottles of water. The reps sure had set up home quickly.  
  
A hand grabbed the scruff of his overcoat and shoved him forward. His head banged against the open cupboard door and his vision swam for a moment. He tried to turn but a blow fell on the back of his neck and he fell to the ground.  
  
Plates and cutlery fell around him as he twisted to see who his attacker was. One of the plates smashed on his head and he rolled over, feeling blood trickling from his scalp and soaking his hair. He looked up and caught a glimpse of a young, plain-looking woman grabbing a knife from the sink. He frantically scanned the room for his gun, which had been lost in the scuffle.  
  
The woman stood above him, grasped the knife in both hands and raised it above her head. Holden closed his eyes, knowing that his time had come. A gunshot roared in the tiny confines of the room and he snapped his eyes back open. The woman dropped the knife, blood running from a wound in her arm. As the knife clattered to the floor she began running.  
  
Douglass stood in the doorway of the kitchen, gun held out and smoking. He watched as the woman began to run to the far end of the kitchen, towards the window. Realising that she intended to escape he raised his gun and aimed.  
  
Holden's assailant was almost at the window when two further shots drilled their way through her body. Blood erupted from her shoulder and chest and she stumbled onwards, straight into the window. Her momentum carried her through the thin glass, shattering it as she fell through into thin air.  
  
Douglass ran up to the window and looked out, only to see her falling, turning in the air with shards of glass glistening around her. She plummeted downwards, her eyes to the heavens, alive right up to the moment her body met with the pavement.  
  
Douglass turned away in time to see third person in the room. Holden was lying on the floor, in a daze and possibly concussed. By the door, however, Douglass briefly saw another person turn and leave the room. He jumped over Holden and gave chase, hearing the apartment door swing on its broken hinges.  
  
He ran into the hall and smashed through the door, knocking it straight off the hinges and onto the corridor floor. He shone his flashlight done the corridor in time to catch a shadow headed for the stairs. He sprinted down the corridor, dropped the flashlight and vaulted straight over the stairway rails, right onto the second flight of stairs.  
  
He landed badly and fell in front of the person he had been chasing. Feet collided with his body and he felt a body fall beside his. He rolled over, grasped the gun in both hands and pressed it right into his quarry's face. He heard a feminine gasp and his finger paused, just about to squeeze the trigger.  
  
In front of him, with the muzzle of his gun pressed in her face was young girl, maybe eighteen to twenty years old. She let out a whimper, her tear filled eyes looking straight into his own. He squeezed the trigger, putting a little more pressure on it.  
  
God but she was beautiful. An angelic face with deep red lips, framed with long blonde hair. Pleasure model, had to be. He squeezed the trigger a little more.  
  
Her body was curled up, shying away from where it had touched his in the fall. Her breath quickened, her eyebrows arching with anticipation. He squeezed...  
  
... and released the trigger.  
  
"I can't do it," he murmured.  
  
The girl looked at him, obviously not having expected to be alive at this point. "You killed Anne," she whispered.  
  
"Yeah, I know," he replied. "It's my job"  
  
"But..."  
  
"Just run. And run fast"  
  
She moved into a crouch, still unsure of what to do in this rather unpredicted occurrence. Douglass gave her a little incentive.  
  
"Run. Because I'm going to kill you if you don't," he said as he pointed the gun at her again.  
  
She jumped to her feet and ran down the stairs. Douglass got to his feet and went back up to the top floor to help Holden. 


End file.
